SHARM EL-SHEIKH, 9 February 2005 — Israeli and Palestinian leaders declared a cease-fire yesterday at a summit in Egypt aimed at ending more than four years of bloodshed.
Although the Palestinian group Hamas said it was not bound by the truce, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon hailed a new chance for the Middle East.
“The calm which will prevail in our lands starting from today is the beginning of a new era,” said Abbas at the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh where Israeli and Palestinian flags flew side by side.
Sharon said: “We must all declare here today that violence will not prevail, violence will not be allowed to murder hope... For the first time in a long time there is hope in our region for a better future for us and our grandchildren.” Abbas said the Palestinians agreed to stop violence while Sharon called a halt to military operations.
The gestures reflected a dramatic brightening of prospects for Middle East peacemaking since the November death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and the rise of Abbas to succeed him on a platform of non-violent struggle.
Reinforcing the sense of optimism, Egypt said that both it and Jordan would return ambassadors to the Jewish state for the first time since the start of intifada in 2000.
Although no formal cease-fire was signed at the summit, it was widely seen as a step back toward negotiations on a US-backed road map for a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
But Hamas said it was not bound by Abbas’ cease-fire, though it would continue to follow a de facto truce at his behest.
“The announcement... of a cease-fire expresses the position only of the Palestinian Authority,” said Mushir Al-Masri of Hamas. “(Hamas) is maintaining its position. There will not be a real truce with Israel without real reciprocity,” he said. “We will act on the truce depending on the commitment by the Zionist enemy to meet our conditions, starting with all Palestinian prisoners.”
Sharon announced at the summit that hundreds of Palestinian detainees would be released from Israeli jails, after a tentative agreement between negotiators for the release of some 900 prisoners.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said: “From now on, any violation of the truce will be a violation of the national commitment and will have to be dealt with as such.”
Shaath said he would immediately take the message to Syria, where Palestinian factions have offices and which is accused by Israel of fomenting violence.
Sharon’s office said he had invited Abbas to a meeting at his ranch in Israel. Palestinian officials said Abbas accepted and that further talks could be held in the West Bank.
The decision to send back Egyptian and Jordanian ambassadors, absent since early 2000, was announced by their foreign ministers. Israel and the United States have been pressing Cairo and Amman to send back the ambassadors as a goodwill gesture.
“The Jordanians and the Egyptians have decided again to allow their ambassadors to return to Israel,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said.”
Asked when an Egyptian ambassador would go, he said: “I cannot claim that he is returning tomorrow but he will be returning... That is a decision.”
Jordanian Foreign Minister Hani Al-Mulki, asked to confirm his ambassador would return, said: “Yes, definitely.”
